Bon Voyage, Sal! We Irish are one of Israel's lost tribes, you know. They must have thought you were Irish. Some Israeli with dyslexia read your name as O'Pant. Think that solves the mystery.

Whatever you do, don't tell them your Italian. I think Israel is still pretty upset over that Masada thing.

Just hope and pray that Israel does not decide to strike those Iranian nuclear facilities while you're there. If that happens, things could get dicey. Take care of yourself, and tell BiBi to quit calling me all the time.

Tony, Aside from the complete lack of transparency concerning this project and the shameful (to use your word) connections between campaign contributions and NIZ beneficiaries, here are just a few of the problems.

1) The law is unconstitutional special legislation designed to benefit one, and only one, municipality. Allentown. In fact, the Governor vetoed a law just like this in July.

2) We are diverting state tax revenue to help a millionaire become a billionaire while simultaneously reducing the human services contributions to counties by 20-30%.

3) EIT is being taken from municipalities without their consent. In a KOZ or TIF, they agree. It's polite to ask. It also helps them plan their budgets.

4) The subsidized rents in the NIZ is luring tenants from other LV office buildings. As a result of this uneven laying field, huge developers will seek reductions in their assessments. This in turn will result in either a reduction of municipal services or tax hikes. Take your pick. So it seems to me that the short-sighted politicians are the ones located in Allentown. This will have a devastating impact on our local economy. How is the empty Martin Tower supposed to get filled when there are subsidized rentals just a stone's throw away? How about the 1600-acre brownfield in South Bethlehem? How about the Rte 33 development by Chrin?

5) The NIZ is simply too large. The area around the arena is fine. Nobody wants to see A-town fail. But this is 130 noncontiguous acres.

On top of all of this, you call someone who exercises his first amendment right to redress grievances disgruntled, but say nothing about a City that attempts to intimidate him and other potential objectors with a SLAPP suit. That's an outright civil rights violation.

I remembered when newspapers were guardians of the First Amendment. What happened to you?

The first time I met you, we got into a shouting match. I've liked you ever since. I'm very happy at your advancement, but will miss your style at the ET. It was very obvious to me that the people at your paper really liked working for you, and that means more than the money. Good luck! Maybe we can grab lunch before you go. Your treat.

Dude, I was there. I also looked at the video. I also heard what Dietrich admitted. He made an accusation of bribery, and one with which McHale agreed. Instead of being happy to see the County be able to preserve 250 acres of farmland, Dietrich made a cowardly snipe, and I call it cowardly bc he refused to own up to it. He is defended by other cowards here, who are willing to make outrageous accusations so long as they don't have to take responsibility for them. And t's hearsay, not "heresay."

Angle was unanimously authorized by Council to pressure Chrin into giving something back to the County, especially since he was gobbling up greenspace. Chrin agreed to give $2 million for farmland preservation, which will enable the County to preserve 250 acres of farmland.

While Angle was announcing this contribution, Dietrich wrote a note accusing Angle of bribery and gave it to another Council member, Ann McHale. When asked to reveal the contents, they both refused.

This was during a public meeting. Under the RTK law, a communication like this, accusing a council member of bribery, is something the public has a right to know. Under the Sunshine Act, we are entitled to know what is being said, especially if it involves accusations of bribery.

The Office of Open Records agreed with me, not you, and ordered the document produced. Just as Dietrich refused to produce it at the meeting and in response to my RTK request, he delayed giving it up until the last possible moment, and when he did, he had no comment.

It is little surprise to me that someone unwilling to take responsibility for his own words by identifying himself, would defend a Council member who believes government behind closed doors is best.

Thanks to Angle, the County will be able to save 250 acres of farmland. He gets accused of bribery, and by a Council member who authorized what he did. When called on it, he slithers under the nearest rock. And you defend this practice bc you don't like Angle or me.

That's bc Ron (and I) were against flushing public money down the toilet ($250,000) to learn what we already knew - passenger rail to NYC is too expensive. Will you be refunding the $250k wasted to the public? Didn't think so.

Angle did not tell people what they wanted to hear - he told the truth. That's why special interests like "IND for mass transit" hate him so much.

It's no surprise that "Shebbie" would resort to personal attacks in an attempt to deflect attention away from Dietrich and his baseless accusation, which he lacked the courage to make openly. That's because "Shebbie", like Dietrich, hides. He won't tell us who he is, but slings mud.

My 1985 suspension, the result of alcoholism, is not irrelevant to all of this. But it is mentioned every time my name comes up to deflect attention away from the message.

As for "multiple frivolous lawsuits," would that be the case where the Supreme Court ruled that a municipality may not float megamillion bonds without knowing what the projects cost? Would it be a Commonwealth Court opinion ruling that County Council had violated the Sunshine Law. A ruling in Common Pleas that resulted in Nazareth finally deciding, after years to start following the Sunshine Act?

As for Open Records requests, where my record is 100%, would it be a ruling that a City must produce its phone records? Or the most recent ruling about a note accusing a Councilman of bribery?

I'll stand by my record on "mulitiple frivolous lawsuits" any day of the week, especially against a coward who is afraid to identify himself?

The cases I have brought have made government more transparent and more accountable.

1) To those of you glad Angle is out, you won't be so happy this time next year, when the County is facing double digit tax increases and its workers facing layoffs. I've seen this before. Love him or hate him, Angle has looked out for the taxpayer.

2) Dietrich is a coward. Like the anonymous people on these sites, he makes outrageous accusations that he will not own up to publicly. If he wants to accuse Angle of bribery during a public meeting, he has an obligation to make that accusation publicly. The public is entitled to at least that much. But Dietrich instead ran for the hills. He hid behind Ann McHale's skirt at Council, hid behind a Council lawyer when asked to produce the document, waited until the last possible moment, and then refused to talk to the press.

3) Angle did what he was specifically authorized to do, both by Dietrich and Cusick. He proposed this during an exec session, as he announced the following week. To call it a bribe or bad government is the hypocritical as well as cowardly, but that's the kind of people we now have running the County.

4) Tricia Mezzacappa is a former candidate for Weest Easton Boro Council who was chucked by the voters and knows very well that the money West Easton is receiving from Atiyeh is for the impact caused by the treatment center, and is between Atiyeh and W Easton. It's amazing that she would try to deprive W Easton of a revenue source, but that's bc she has no interest in W Easton as she herself has stated. Kinda' explains why the voters rejected her.

Joe, These comments have nothing to do with the issues or making a Sunshine Act objection. It is pure, dripping hate from one or two persons, using various made-up names created just yesterday. Amazingly, they prove our points. If forced to reveal themselves, they would head for the nearest rock. They themselves are unwilling to be accountable, so it's no surprise that they place no importance on the government's need to be accountable.

Mr. Orlando, I thank you for your defense. I suspect that tictactootsierollsalad, unpopularwiththeladies and lovestokickpigs are all one and the same person. Their profiles were all created the same date - yesterday - and the only comments posted at lehighvalleylive are the ones attacking me. Their vicious personal attacks have nothing to do with the issue of government transparency, but are nothing more than an attempt to marginalize me and shout me down. It won't work. In fact, this tactic often backfires. These sad souls, dripping with hate, are demeaning themselves far more than they demean me.